Posted in Explore and Discover on September 11, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole Earlier this month as my family prepared for a day-long excursion into Glacier National Park from our campsite, we discussed easy travel options for lunch. We had pasta salad and salami and cream cheese rolls, along with other not-so-typical camping fare. Ultimately most of us opted for a good old fashioned sandwich—simple, […]
Tags: adults, book list, books, food, kids, reading, recipes, sandwich, teens, tweens
Posted in Explore and Discover on August 22, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Caitlin Wheeler Some children are early readers. I have a friend who swears she already preferred burying her nose in a book (over any other activity) by the time she turned two, along with the photo to prove it. While this story smells faintly of exaggeration and posed photography to me, I’m sure my […]
Tags: fairy tales, folktales, illustrations, kids, parents, picture books, preschool, reading, toddlers
Posted in Explore and Discover on July 24, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Dana Mannino The way I see it, there are two phases of summer: active summer and sedentary summer. For me, active summer occurs when temperatures reach 70–85 degrees. At those temps, I try to spend most of my time outside, preferably in the mountains or at a lake, in the garden will do as […]
Tags: active, activities, adults, bingeing, books, crafts, Discover Pass, events, hobbies, hoopla, indoors, kids, library programs, LinkedIn Learning, minecraft, Novelist, outdoors, parents, pronunciator, reading, recommendations, sedentary, SelectReads, streaming, summer, teens, tweens, watching
Posted in kids, Parents and Teachers on July 8, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Rachel Edmondson This year the library’s summer reading program has been celebrating A Universe of Stories. If you haven’t already poured through Engage, our programs and events guide, to circle the programs that interest you, I suggest you do so soon. We still have lots of summer programs you won’t want to miss! This […]
Tags: activities, astronauts, book list, books, constellations, crafts, jewelry, kids, library, Mobius Science Center, moon sand, orbit, parents, planets, programs, reading, space, stars, telescopes, The Zaniac
Posted in Explore and Discover on July 3, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole Ah, summer. Here you are again, bringing all that sunshine and heat and gardening goodness with you. For most of us gardeners, our seasonal plants have not only been selected by now, but they’re planted and fairly well established in our gardens. Many perennials are blooming, or nearly so. The time has […]
Tags: adults, cilantro, coriander, do-it-yourself, gardening, gardens, herbs, how-to, kids, lovage, parsely, planting, plants, saving seeds, seed, seed library, seeds, snap peas, teens, vegetables
Posted in Explore and Discover on May 16, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Dana Mannino When kids tour the library, I like to ask them what they think a librarian does. Usually I get answers like “You tell us not to run.” I think to myself, “If I wanted to do that, I would have become a life guard!” I don’t think kids are the only ones […]
Tags: #dayinthelife, #ProjectMemory, adults, appointment, book a librarian, book club, day in the life, encyclopedia, finances, kids, LEGO, librarian, library, library card, overdrive, parents, preschool, Prime Time, Project Memory, reading, referenceusa, STEM, stories, story time, storytime, teens, World Book
Posted in Explore and Discover on April 30, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole Springtime in the Inland Northwest is peak cloud watching time. Simple steps for cloud watching: Put away your wristwatch and prepare your imagination. Find a good spot, either sitting or lying down, with a good view of the sky. Talk about what you see: Shapes, colors, creatures, or other things in the […]
Tags: adults, art, clear sky, cloud paint, clouds, colors, contemplation, creatures, cumulonimbus, cumulus, free, games, imagination, kids, lenticular cloud, parents, relaxation, science, shapes, skygazing
Posted in Explore and Discover on April 23, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Rachel Edmondson I often hear people refer to Spokane as a big city with a small-town feel, and I think this is one of the reasons many people enjoy living in Spokane. However, when talking with customers and friends, I also hear more and more about how people don’t know their neighbors anymore. How […]
Tags: civic life, community, grandparents, inequality, kids, libraries, library, neighborhoods, neighbors, nonfiction, Palaces for the People, parents, parks, places, polarization, public life, schools, social, social infrastructure, social science, society, spaces, teachers, together
Posted in Explore and Discover on April 2, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Melissa Rhoades Did you know you can borrow a sewing machine from the Library District? Our Library of Things offers two Elna eXplore 320 sewing machines to check out for up to seven days at a time. One is available for pick up at the Spokane Valley Library and the other can be picked […]
Tags: adults, arts, books, clothes, crafts, creativity, economical, Elna, environmental, fabric, hobbies, Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center, hoopla, how-to, kids, Library of Things, overdrive, quilting, resources, sewing, sewing guides, sewing machine, sewing notions, teens, textile arts, textiles
Posted in Parents and Teachers on February 20, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole If you’re feeling like the parent of Ralphie from the movie A Christmas Story every time you try to get yourself and your kids bundled up to go outside, know that you are not alone. When the temperatures drop into (or below) the 20s, my family doesn’t spend as much time outdoors […]
Tags: activities, caregivers, cars, clean up, cotton balls, dancing, early learning, finger painting, flour, grandparents, indoor, infants, kids, loose parts, magnets, miscellaneous, parents, play, Play-Doh, pom-poms, preschoolers, rice, tape, teachers, toddlers, trucks, water